Checkers Check-In: Week of February 15

The Charlotte Checkers look to find their groove as they enter a two-game weekend set with the Hartford Wolfpack.

The last month has felt like an elevator for the Charlotte Checkers.

Since Jan. 10, Charlotte is 6-6-2-0. Also since that date, there has been a two-game losing skid and three straight wins.

They open a weekend set at home against the Hartford Wolfpack on Saturday afternoon.

“I think the last little while we had a home stretch where we didn’t like the results,” said Checkers head coach Geordie Kinnear. “We liked pockets of the games, and then we went on the road for a long stretch and really liked the way we played.”

Last weekend’s back to back trips to Hartford( a 3-0 win) and Bridgeport (a 5-1 loss) fell into that pattern.

“Coming off the All-Star Break, we played a really good hockey game in Hartford, then we didn’t play very well in Bridgeport,” said Kinnear. “We’re just looking for that consistency and continuing to build off of some systems and individually and collectively looking to get better.”

“You just take it day by day, sometimes the results can be a little bit of a distraction. It’s about how we’re playing at the time.” Kinnear continued about Charlotte's current consistency.

That however won't stop this team and staff from being optimistic when it comes to the remaining games this season.

“What I like about the team is they’re great people, great competitors, they come to work every single day,” said Kinnear. “I can honestly say - off the top of my head - maybe two games that we didn’t like all year, where we lacked that focus for whatever reason.”

Climbing back atop the AHL's Atlantic Division will be no easy task as the top 4 teams are only separated by 8 points.

“We have the defending Calder Cup champions in our division,” said Kinnear. “You look at Wilkes on paper, of all the teams we’ve seen in the league they’re the most skilled from line one to line four. We got a good taste of that last week when they were in our building. You want to make sure you’re playing your best hockey when it matters and we have a lot of work to do. We’re going to need everybody.”

The Checkers believe they have the pieces coming together but in order to make a run to the top, coach Kinnear mentioned that C word that is very important around Valentine's Day.

“It’s a hardworking group that’s committed,” said Kinnear. “When you have that, you can do something special. But I’m going to remind everybody that we have a lot of work to do.

NOTES AND MORE QUOTES

-26 year old forward John Leonard has an AHL career high of 19 goals in 44 games this season. He was named an AHL All-Star.

“I’m so proud of him,” said Kinnear. “I know he’s really hungry to get back to the NHL, but he’s really hungry to win down here. He’s been a big addition. I’m glad he’s on my side.” Regarding John Leonards first AHL All-Star appearance.

“He’s a young kid that’s worked hard, he went down to the East Coast League for a little bit and developed over time. He’s done a great job” said Kinnear about his 23 year old rookie goaltender who has started four of the teams last eight games including three of the last five.

-Rookie goalie Cooper Black is 4-0-0 with a .959 save percentage since coming back up from ECHL Savannah.

“We haven’t had a lot of time, we’ve been on the road quite a bit,” said Kinnear “The off-ice work is important to our group. We have a young group that haven’t played this much hockey, so we want to make sure they’re nice and strong, because part of our identity is being hard in puck battles, and to be hard in puck battles you have to be strong in the gym.”

“We’re going to take advantage of February,” said Kinnear. “Again, we’ve had enough rest, now it’s back to work making sure when we get in those high-stake games, that we physically have enough energy to win a lot of puck battles.”

“To be honest I didn’t know what I was getting,” said Kinnear of Leonard, who signed an AHL deal with Charlotte over the summer. “We knew he played in the NHL a little bit.”

“You look at his total in the American Hockey League, he never really had 19 goals before and he’s already there,” said Kinnear. “He’s played a big role. He came in, took advantage of the opportunity right away - his line was the best line, the power play was scoring a lot of goals, now he’s added the penalty kill to it. He’s a complete player for us.”

“I put him in situations that weren’t as comfortable as they were early on,” said Kinnear. “You look at Wilkes-Barre on a Friday night - top team, haven’t lost a lot of hockey games, he beats those guys. Coming off an All-Star Break, not sure what you’re going to get, put him in that situation and he took advantage of it and so proud of the work that he’s put in to have success,” said Kinnear. “We just have to continue to do that.”